GailW's 2026 ATY Reading Plan

[GailW]

OFFICIAL CHALLENGE
☀ Progress: 0 / 40

1. A book from a genre that starts with A, T, or Y
2. A book with a primarily red, green or blue cover
3. A book that fits a prompt suggestion for this year that did not make the list: A book that would fit the 26th prompt from any ATY52 year: 2021: A short book (<210 pages) by a new to you author: Why Do You Dance When You Walk? by Abdourahman A. Waberi, Djibouti
4. A book by a new-to-you author
5. A book you want to read because of something you read in 2025: The Ungrateful Refugee by Dina Nayeri. I read her brother Daniel's book "Everything Sad is Untrue" which is on the same topic but written for middle grade.
6. A book related to blood, sweat, or tears
7. A book with a character who appears in more than one book
8. A book set in Africa, Asia, or Australia
9. A book with a number, ordinal, or iterative numeral in the title
10. An award winning book
11. A history or historical fiction book
12. A book with cover text that is NOT black or white
13. An author's second/sophomore book
16. A book featuring a character with a similar occupation to one of the Clue/Cluedo characters
18. A book with a location in the title
22. A book by a Korean or Korean-diaspora author
23. A book with a road trip or long journey
26. A book with a Z in the title and/or author name
27. A nonfiction book
28. A book related to a resistance, rebellion, or revolution
29. A vacation book
30. The most recently published book by an author…
31… and a book from that same author's backlist
32. A novella of 100-250 pages
33. A book with an Indigenous character or author
34. A book with a window on the cover
35. A book where all or part of the action takes place in a library, a museum, a school, or another public building
36. A book with a primary character who is a woman over 40
37. A book that includes a science topic
38. A book that's part of a series
39. A book connected in some way to the "Queen of Crime", Agatha Christie
40. A book that has a punctuation mark in the title
41. A mystery or true crime book
42. A book set in an isolated location
46. A book that is not a novel
47. A book with "this", "that", "these", or "those" in the title
48. A book with something edible in the title
49. A second book for your favorite prompt
50. A book with a bird on its cover
51. A book published in 2026

[GailW]

REJECT CHALLENGE
includes the prompts for the "Lists and Awards" challenge and the "Science, Social Issues, and A Sense of Place" challenge

☀ Progress: 0 / 67

Prompts by theme:
GENRE
1. A Bildungsroman (coming-of-age) book:
2. A biography, memoir, or autofiction:
3. A book on one of Goodreads New Releases by Genre page:
4. A book related to medical science or health: The Country of the Blind: A Memoir at the End of Sight OR
5. A book related to psychology, mental health or neuroscience: Selfless Act of Breathing
6. A book related to the Declaration of Independence:
7. A book tagged by Goodreads readers as Literary Fiction:
8. A magical realism or magical book:
9. A mystery without a murder:

JUST PLAIN FUN
10. a book by an author who shares one of your initials:
11. A book related to baking: the bakery mystery series
12. A book related to penguins: Death and the Penguin
13. A book that would fill a favorite prompt from last year's list:
14. A book that's title and author's name start with the same letter:
15. A book with a cat on the cover:
16. A book with a fraction in the title:
17. A book with a photographic element on the cover.:
18. A book with a title that includes a family relationship word:
19. A book with an embossed cover or raised lettering:
20. A book with the word "and" or "or" in the title:
21. A book with the word friend in the description:

LITERARY AWARENESS
22. A book about books:
23. A book by a 2026 debut author:
24. A book featured as a Book of the Month Club pick: % see "aty-sh3"
25. A book from any widely recognized list of your choice.:
26. A book from the NPR “Books We Love” lists:
27. A book listed in any ‘Best Books’ list of 2024 or 2025:
28. A book on one of Obama’s reading lists:
29. A book posted in one of the ATY Best Book of the Month threads in 2025 or 2026:
30. A book set in an alternate history or an imaginary world/universe: Bozamba's Revenge
31. A book shortlisted for a Dublin Literary Award:
32. A book that has been long-listed for the Tournament of Books in any year:
33. A book that is the last in a series:
34. A book that was nominated for a Goodreads Choice Award in any year:
35. a book that won an international literary award:
36. A book you would consider a classic:

LOVED THE IDEA
2 Weeks:
37. ▫️Book where the first word of the second title:
38. ▫️Is the same as the last word of the first title:

2 Weeks:
39. ▫️Book where the second book's title provides a response or continuation…:
40. ▫️… of the first book's title:

2 Weeks:
41. ▫️Last name of one author:
42. ▫️... is the first name of the second author:

SOCIAL AWARENESS
43. A book about a woman crossing barriers, borders, and boundaries:
44. A book about Women crossing borders and boundaries:
45. A book connected to a Time's person of the year:
46. A book exploring personal or cultural identity:
47. A book featuring a holiday that you don't celebrate:
48. A book nominated for an award that values peace, cultural understanding, and related social issues: Dayton Peace Prize:
49. A book that could fit the quote: “May you live in interesting times.”: So Far Gone
50. A book that includes a “forbidden” topic in polite conversation - religion, politics, sex, or money: How Fascism Works OR Fascism: A Warning
51. A book that is related to one of the group’s moderators:
52. A book that was banned or challenged:
53. A book with an author or character with a gender neutral name:
54. A book with an orphaned or adopted character:

WORLD AWARENESS
Three books: one in each quadrant of the world excluding North America:
55. ▫️Read one book in the N+E hemispheres (Asia, Europe or Northern Africa):
56. ▫️Read one book in the S+ E Hemispheres (Oceania, and Southern Africa):
57. ▫️Read one book in the S+W hemispheres (South America):

58. A book about wildlife or nature conservation.:
59. A book connected to the Middle East in some way: Woman at Zero Point, see World Reading Challenge (search on MENA)
60. A book related to a national park:
61. A book set in a country bordering the Indian Ocean:
62. A book set in one of the world’s great cities.:
63. A book set in or near the Caribbean:
64. A book set in the opposite hemisphere from where you reside:
65. A book that takes place in a country/place along the path of totality for the 2026 solar eclipse: Spain, Portugal, Greenland, Iceland, the Arctic, and the Atlantic Ocean.: Iceland: History. A Mess.
66. A book with a “green” topic or character: Migrations; Harry's Trees; The Island of Missing Trees
67. A book with a desert setting: Signs Preceding the End of the World by Yuri Hererra

[GailW]

Spring Seasonal Challenge

[GailW]

Summer Seasonal Challenge

[GailW]

Fall Seasonal Challenge

[GailW]

Winter Seasonal Challenge

[GailW]

INDEX of 2026 Challenges::

PERSONAL CHALLENGES:
💫 Agatha Christie:
💫 Banned:
💫 City of Asylum:
💫 Debuts:
💫 Diversity:
💫 New to Me:
💫 Paperbacks and Fry Breads 2023 Challenge:
💫 Shelf Awareness (aka WxxE):
💫 Translated:
💫 Women to Read Before You Go:

GROUP CHALLENGES:
🪷 ATY-Annual:
🪷 ATY-Rejects:
🪷 ATY-Spring:
🪷 ATY-Summer:
🪷 ATY-Fall:
🪷 ATY-Winter:

☄️ CCC- 26x26
☄️ CCC- Scrabble
☄️ CCC-

🔍 Mystery/Thriller Fans-1st Round:
🔍 Mystery/Thriller Fans-2nd Round:
🔍 Mystery/Thriller Fans-3rd Round:

⭐ RC-A to Z :
⭐ RC-Bibliopoly:
⭐ RC-Bookworms Take Shelfies:
⭐ RC-Hardest Challenge You'll Ever Do:
⭐ RC-Magical Mystery Tour:
⭐ RC-Pages:
⭐ RC-PopSugar:
⭐ RC-Series:
⭐ RC-new 1:
⭐ RC-new 2:
⭐ RC-new 3:
⭐ RC-Q1
▫️▫️▫️RC-Q1 :
▫️▫️▫️RC-Q1 :
⭐ RC-Q2
▫️▫️▫️RC-Q2 :
▫️▫️▫️RC-Q2 :
⭐ RC-Q3
▫️▫️▫️ RC-Q3 :
▫️▫️▫️ RC-Q3 :
⭐ RC-Q4 :
▫️▫️▫️ RC-Q4 :
▫️▫️▫️ RC-Q4 :
⭐ RC-MONTHS :
▫️▫️▫️ RC-Mo 1 :
▫️▫️▫️ RC-Mo 2 :
▫️▫️▫️ RC-Mo 3 :
▫️▫️▫️ RC-Mo 4 :
▫️▫️▫️ RC-Mo 5 :
▫️▫️▫️ RC-Mo 6 :

🚺 RW-Annual:
🚺 RW-Bingo 1:
🚺 RW-Bingo 2:
🚺 RW-RAtW: Women in Translation:
🚺 RW-RAtW: Women writing in English:
🚺 RW-QUAD 1:
🚺 RW-QUAD 2:
🚺 RW-QUAD 3:

🌎 World:
🌍 World: US/CA/MX:

[GailW]

2026 STATS:
0 / 120

BOOKS:
Genre
Action and Adventure:
Biography/Memoir:
Classics:
Dystopia:
Fantasy/Mythical/ Magical Realism:
Literary Fiction/General Fiction:
Historical Fiction:
History:
Horror:
Mystery:
Nonfiction:
Picture:
Romance:
Science:
Science Fiction:
Suspense/Thriller:
True Crime:

Form:
Comic/Graphic Novel:
Essays (collection):
Play:
Poetry (collection):
Short Story:
Short Stories (collection):

Length:
Very Short (<70 pages):
Short (<250 pages):
Medium (250-499 pages):
"Big" (500+ pages):

Media
Book:
eBook:
Audio:
Internet Archive:

Age
Children:
Middle Grade:
YA:

Series:
Banned/Challenged:
Debut:
Translated:

Publication Date
bef. 1900: ..
1900-1959:
1960-1979:
1980-1999:
2000-2009:
2010-2019:
2020-2025:
2026: ..........

AUTHOR:
* New to Me:
* Female:
* Diverse:

a book can be included across multiple challenges
📚 ✸ ⭐ ✔ ☀ ✔ ✔️ ✣ ✨ 🌈 ☑️ 👠🌠🎈📙📕📍☄️ 📆🕰️🌞💫🪷🟢🕙🆕🔹🔻▫️🔸🌟🌎🗺️⚖️🚺
** Action and Adventure: the main character repeatedly finds themselves in risky, dangerous, situations.
** Fantasy/Mythical/ Magical Realism: includes prominent elements of magic, mythology, or the supernatural
** Horror: meant to cause discomfort and fear for both the character and readers. This also includes "horror for wimps".
** Mystery: The plot always revolves around a crime of sorts that must be solved—or foiled—by the protagonists
** Science Fiction: leans heavily on themes of technology and future science
** Suspense/Thriller: hero attempts to stop and defeat the villain to save their own life rather than uncover a specific crime

[GailW]

READING BY MONTH JAN THRU JUN
0 / 60

Bolded are my favorite for the month
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
pages: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

JAN
1. TITLE - AUTHOR - RATING

[GailW]

READING BY MONTH JUL thru DEC
0 / 120

Bolded are my favorite for the month
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
pages: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

JUL
1. TITLE - AUTHOR - RATING

[GailW]

Personal: AGATHA CHRISTIE
☀ Completed X

*
*
*

[GailW]

Personal: BANNED/CHALLENGED READING
☀ Completed X

* book - banned in school district, state

[GailW]

Personal: DEBUTS
☀ Completed x

* - author

[GailW]

Personal: DIVERSITY IN READING AUTHORS
Book must be written by an author(s) who is different from me: race, gender, sexual orientation, geography, nationality, religion, language, ability, etc. I have eliminated "straight white males" from this category.
☀ Completed x

Race or Ethnicity
born in the US, other than "white"
* (author:) - (book:)
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Geography, Nationality, or Native Language
Not born in the US. Possibly doesn't live in the US. Could be translated. Does not include England authors.
* (author:) - (book:) - genre, author country of birth, book setting
-------------------------------------------------------------------
LGBTQ+
* (author:) - (book:)
------------------------------------------------------------------
Ability Challenges
* (author:) - (book:)
------------------------------------------------------------------
Religious / Spiritual Beliefs
only if it doesn't fit in any other category or it (subjectively) appears to be on a much higher plane than the other categories
* (author:) - (book:), religion or belief

[GailW]

Personal: NEW-TO-ME AUTHORS
....................Female:
................................Male:
☀ Completed x

Female:
☀ (author: ) alphabetical by first name

Male:
☀ (author: ) alphabetical by first name

[GailW]

RC: SHELF AWARENESS

LINE ITEMS SUBJECT TO CHANGE BASED ON FURTHER RESEARCH
carried over from 2025 Reading Challenge group with the exception that any continent focus will be tracked in the World Reading Group Challenge

☀ Completed x / y

JAN & FEB
* Black History Month:
* International Holocaust Remembrance Day (Jan 27th):
* World Religion Day:
* International Day of Education:
* International Mother Language Day (UNESCO-Feb 21):

MAR & APR
* Women's History Month:
* National Poetry Month:
* Celebrate Diversity Month:
* International Women's Day (Mar 8th):
* United Nations Zero Discrimination Day (Mar 1st):
* Holi:
* Eid al- Fitr:
* Trans Day of Visibility (Mar 31):
* April Fool's Day:
* World Health Day (Apr 7th):
* National Right to Read Day (April 7):
* National Library Week (Apr 6-12):
* Arab American Heritage Month (Apr):

MAY & JUN
* Juneteenth:
* LGBTQ+ Pride Month:
* Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month:
* Canada’s Indigenous History Month:
* Jewish Heritage Month:
* Caribbean American Heritage Month:
* Mental Health Awareness Month:
* World Press Freedom Day (May 3rd):
* World Bee Day (May 20th):
* World Environment Day (Jun 5th):

JUL & AUG
* South Asian Heritage Month (UK):
* Women in Translation Month:
* International Day of the World’s Indigenous People:
* Women’s Equality Day (Aug 26th):
* Canada Day (Jul 1st):

SEP & OCT
* Black History Month (UK):
* Hispanic Heritage Month:
* International Literacy Day (Sep 8th):
* International Day of the Girl Child (Oct 11th):
* United Nations Day (Oct 24th):
* World Kid Lit Month:

NOV & DEC
* National American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month:
* International Day of Persons with Disabilities (Dec 3rd):
* Human Rights Day (December 10th):
* International Day for the Abolition of Slavery (Dec 2nd):

[GailW]

Personal: TRANSLATED
☀ Completed x

☀ (book: ), from the (language)

[GailW]

PERSONAL: WOMEN AUTHORS TO READ BEFORE I "GO"

Completed 70 / 120 authors so far
Authors I have not yet read are italicized
☀ Authors Read for 1st Time in 2026: X
* Books read for these authors in 2026: X
🌹 Another book read for already completed author

* Acevedo, Elizabeth = 1
* Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi = 3
* Alcott, Louisa May = 3
* Allende, Isabel = 5
Armstrong, Karen: A Short History of Myth
* Atkinson, Kate = 6
* Atwood, Margaret = 4
* Austen, Jane = 3
Bechdel, Allison
Beecher Stowe, Harriet
* Blume, Judy = 4
Bond, Cynthia
* Bronsky, Alina = 1
* Bronte, Charlotte = 1
* Bronte, Emily = 1
* Brooks, Geraldine = 4
* Brown, Natasha = 1
Bulawayo, NoViolet
* Butler, Octavia = 1
Byatt, A.S.: The Children's Book
Carter, Angela
* Cather, Willa = 1
Catton, Eleanor
* Christie, Agatha: (= >13)
* Danticat, Edwidge = 2
Davis, Lydia
* Desai, Anita = 1
Desai, Kiran
Didion, Joan
Donogue, Emma
* du Maurier, Daphne = 1
* Egan, Jennifer = 1
* Eliot, George = 1
* Erdrich, Louise = 3
* Ferrante, Elena = 4
* Fitzgerald, Penelope = 1
Funder, Anna
* Gay, Roxane = 1
Gilbert, Elizabeth
* Glass, Julia = 1
Gordimer, Nadine
* Grace, Patricia = 1
* Groff, A Lauren = 1
* Gyasi, Yaa = 2
Hempel, Amy
* Heyer, Georgette = 3
* Highsmith, Patricia = 2
Hulme, Keri
* Hurston, Zora Neale = 2
Jacobs, Jane
* James, PD = 14
* Jones, Tayari = 1
* Kidd, Sue Monk = 3
Kingsolver, Barbara
Kolbert, Elizabeth
Kushner, Rachel
* Lahiri, Jhumpa = 1
* Lawhon, Arial = 1
Le Guin, Ursula K.
* Lee, Harper = 2
* L'Engle, Madeleine = 1
Lessing, Dorris:
Lispector, Clarice
Lively, Penelope: Judgement Day
Luiselli, Valerie: Lost Children Archive
Lurie, Alison
MacDonald, Ann-Marie
Mantel, Hilary
* McConaghy, Charlotte = 2
* McDermott, Alice = 1
McKay, Ami
Messud, Claire
Montgomery, Lucy Maud
* Morrison, Toni = 3
* Munro, Alice = 1
Murdoch, Iris:
* Ng, Celeste = 3
* Oates, Joyce Carol = 2
O'Brien, Edna:
O'Connor, Flannery: A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories
* Oyeyemi, Helen = 1
* Ozeki, Ruth = 1
* Patchett, Ann = 8
Plath, Sylvia: The Bell Jar
* Poliner, Elizabeth = 1
* Proulx, Annie = 1
* Reid, Taylor Jenkins = 1
Rich, Adrienne
Robinson, Marilynne
* Rowling, JK = 13
Roy, Arundhati
Russell, Karen
* Semple, Maria = 1
Shelley, Mary
* Shields, Carol = 1
* Smiley, Jane = 1
Smith, Ali
* Smith, Zadie = 2
* Solnit, Rebecca = 1
Sontag, Susan
* St. John Mandel, Emily = 2
Stein, Gertrude
Straub, Emma
* Strout, Elizabeth = 4
Szymborska, Wistawa:
* Tan, Amy = 5
* Tartt, Donna = 1
Toews, Miriam: All My Puny Sorrows
* Tyler, Anne = 9
* Walker, Alice = 1
* Ward, Jesmyn = 1
Waters, Sarah
* Wharton, Edith = 2
Wilkerson, Isabel:
* Willis, Connie = 1
* Winterson, Jeanette = 1
* Wolitzer, Meg = 2
* Woolf, Virginia = 2
* Wyld, Evie = 1
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